Incandescent-electric-lam p socket



I adapted to be screwed into and out of said CRAIG RITCHIE ARNOLD, or sPATENT QOFFICE.

HARON HILL, PENNSYLVANIAJ INCANDESCENT-ELECTRlC-LAMP SOCKET.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 473,373, dated April19, 1892.

Application filed December 1'7, 1891. Serial 110,415,324. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CRAIG RITCHIE ARNOLD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Sharon Hill, in the county of Delaware andState of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Sockets orHolders for Incandescent Electric Lamps, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the construction of a socket or holder forincandescent lamps, and is designed to furnish a holder which will notonly provide a flexible suspension for the lamp when used in places, ason shipboard, where it is subjected to much vibration, but will alsoprevent the lamp from working loose from its support, as frequentlyhappens in the case of sockets having the usual means for attachment ofthe lamp.

Myinvention is designed more particularly as an improvement upon thatclass of sockets or holders with which lamps having a screwthreadedcollar upon the neck of the lamp are employed.

My invention consists, essentially, of a spiral spring forming a springcontact-terminal and socket for the support of the lamp and havlng itsturns free or disconnected-from one another at the socket end, incombination with the lamp having a metal screwterminal formed on orattached to its neck or base and spiral-spring socket.

My invention consists, f urther,in certain details of construction, ashereinafter more par-' ticularly described and claimed.

In a socket constructed in accordance with my invention the lamp cannotwork loose, because if the lamp turns in a direction to unscrew it fromthe spiral spring the eifect will be to contract the said spring andcause it to bind tighter upon thescreW-thread on the collar, whereas thereverse movement will obviously result simply in screwing the lampfarther into its socket.

To provide for the convenient detachment of the lamp, I furnish the endof the spiralspring socket with a stud orprojection, by means of whichthe turns of the spring may be slightly sprung open to permit the lampto be unscrewed without binding of the spring upon the collar.

a perspective view of a socket or holder embodying my invention. Fig. 2is a vertical cross-section through the upper portion of the apparatus.

In the drawings I have shown theinvention as carried out in connectionwith a key-socket, but as will be obvious the invention is likewiseapplicable to keyless sockets.

A'indicates the shell, which contains the operative parts of a key orswitch socket.

B is a plate or disk of some insulating material, which is supported inany desired manner upon the parts contained within the shell A. The diskBcarries the central contact or stud O, which forms one contact-terminalof the holder, and is engaged by a contact stud or projection I) on thelamp itself and forming one contact-terminal of the latter.

E indicates the usual metallic screw-thread ed collar or shell upon theneck of the lamp and forming the other contact-terminal of the latter.

The contact 0 of the socket is electrically connected with the parts ofthe switch or the leading-in wires of the holder, when the invention isused with a keyless socket, in any desired manner.

Fastened upon the disk or plateB by means of screws or otherwise is aring F, which is connected beneath the disk B by screws or otherwisewith the switch-contacts or the circuit through which the lamp issupplied in any ordinary or suitable manner.

G is a spiral spring, into which the neck of the lamp is adapted to fit,and which has its turns so formed that they will form a screwthreadadapted to register with or fit the turns of the screw-threaded shell Eon the neck of the lamp. The spring G is attached to the plate F bysoldering or by other means. Preferably the spiral spring Gis formedfrom wire wound upon a former of suitable gage. The free end of thespring has a slight teat or projection G by means of which it may besprung open slightly to allow the lamp to be detached. When the lamp isscrewed into the socket thus provided by the spring G, thecontact-terminal D of thelamp will bear upon the contact-terminal O ofthe socket and may rock thereupon. The spring G provides the flexiblesuspension, and the only movement In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1is of the lamp which can take place will be in a too direction to moveit farther into the socket and insure the contact of D and O. Themovement in the opposite direction cannot take place by vibration, owingto the factthat the tendency will be to contract the turns of the springand bind it more firmly upon the collar E,tl1us locking thela-tter fromrotation.

The spring Gprovidesa flexible suspension and takes up the vibrationswhich would be communicated from the support, thus relieving the lampfrom vibrations, which tend to destroy the filament.

\Vhen the lamp is to be Withdrawn, it is necessary to open the turns ofthe spring slightly, which may be done by means of the stud G which maybe opened sufficiently to allow the lamp to be unscrewed withoutbinding'of the spring-socket upon the collar.

lVhat I claim as my invention is- 1. The combination, substantially asdescribed, of a lampholder having a con tact-terminal consisting of anattached spiral spring constituting a screw-threaded socket foraltachment of the lamp and having its turns free or disconnected fromone another at the open or socket end, and the lamp having a metal screwcontact-terminal formed on or attached to its neck or baseand adapted toscrew into and out of the said spiral-spring contact, as and for thepurpose described.

2. In a socket or holder for incandescent lamps, the combination,substantially as described, With a suitable insulating-base, of a metalring fastened thereto and a spiral spring projecting from the ring andconstituting a contact-terminal of the socket or holder, and a lamphaving a screw-threaded metallic collar constituting a contact-terminalof the lamp and adapted to screw into and out of the open end of thespring-socket formed by said spiral spring, as and for the purposedescribed.

3. In a socket or holder for incandescent lamps, the combination,substantially as described, of two attached socket-terminals, oneconsisting of a spiral spring forming at its outer end a screw-threadedspringsocket, the

turns of which are adapted to contract or to be sprung open, asdescribed, the other consisting of a central projecting contact-studwithin said spriin socket, and an incandescent lamp having twocontact-terminals, ono consisting oi. a screw-threaded collar adapted toengage with the turns of the spiral spring at its contractible andexpansible open end and the other consisting, of a stud or projectionadapted to engage with and rock upon the central projection within thespiral spring upon the holder.

4. In a holder for incandescent lamps, a contact and socket consistingof a spiral spring G, having at its outer free end a stud G by which thespirals may be sprung apart, in combination with the lamp having acontactterminal adapted to screw into and outof the open end of thespring, as and for the purpose described.

5. In a holder for incandescent; electric lamps, the combination,substantially as described, with a plate or support of insulatingmaterial, of a -ring I mounted thereon, the spiral spring G, attached tosaid ring and having a stud G a central projecting contactstud C, alsomounted on the holder, but insulated from the ring, and an in candesccntelectric lamp having contact-terminals D and E, adapted to engage withthe contacts G and 0 upon the holder, as and for the purpose described.

Signed at Chester, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania,this 1st day of December, A. D. 1891-.

CRAIG RllClllE ARNOLD.

\Vitnesses:

J. LENTZ GARRETT, Ln'r'rIn D. ALLMOND.

